Healthy Kids Sonoma County is proud to have accepted the Connecting Kids to Coverage Challenge.  Fortunately, in Sonoma County, most children have health insurance. When they become sick, their parents can call their child’s doctor to get advice or schedule an appointment. Because they have health insurance, they are less likely to become ill since they have received regular preventive care, including their immunizations. This is not the case for the 7,000 children in our community who are uninsured. Over 80% ofSonomaCounty’s uninsured children are from families with working parents. Their parents, however, unlike most of us, don’t receive health benefits from their employers, and, if they do, the coverage is too expensive or limited in scope to meet their family’s needs. Most of the families with uninsured children have incomes less than 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. The majority actually qualify for public programs like Medi-Cal or Healthy Families but aren’t enrolled because parents are either unaware of the programs or are unable to navigate the confusing eligibility system. The remaining children are ineligible for public programs because of the income level and/or immigration status.

Multiple studies have shown that the lack of health insurance negatively impacts the current and future health of children, as well as their ability to succeed in school and in life. It is also more costly for our community because children without health insurance are much more likely to have preventable emergency room visits and hospitalizations. When children have health insurance and are linked to primary care (a pediatrician or family physician), they have better quality of medical and dental care, improved health outcomes, better school attendance, improved reading scores and overall increased ability to participate in school and other normal childhood activities.

Fortunately,HealthyKidsSonomaCounty, a local public/private collaborative program, has been highly successful in linking local uninsured children to health coverage and a regular source of prevention-focused primary care (‘a medical home’). Since 2005, Healthy Kids has guided low-income families in the complex process of insuring their children in Medi-Cal, Healthy Families or community-based insurance, such as the Kaiser Child Health Plan that currently insures more than 4,000 local uninsured children. Overall, Healthy Kids has successfully processed 55,000 health insurance enrollments and renewals for local children in the last six years, giving each of these children a better chance for lifelong health and educational attainment. 

Our strong local Healthy Kids collaborative has been the key to the great progress that has been made in promoting and providing health coverage for children inSonomaCounty. Healthy Kids includes 20 non-profit and local government organizations such asUnited Way, Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Santa Rosa, St. Joseph Health System, First 5 Sonoma County, Redwood Community Health Coalition, the Sonoma County Office of Education and the County Departments of Health Services and Human Services, among others. The work of Healthy Kids is particularly important during these tough economic times when so many local families have lost their jobs together with health insurance for themselves and their children. In addition, the serious budget deficit in California, as well as proposed federal cuts, threaten the funding for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families insurance programs for low income children. Proposed federal cuts also threaten funding for our local community health centers, the main source of medical care for low-income children and families inSonomaCounty.  Healthy Kids is a win-win solution - giving every child in Sonoma County an equal chance to reach their health potential and succeed in school and in life, while reducing the health care costs associated with preventable emergency room visits and hospitalizations. We urge your continued support and advocacy for the health of all children in our community and the important work of Healthy Kids.